


Nothing Remains

by TheMightyGhost



Category: Marvel, Norse Religion & Lore, Scottish Mythology, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama & Romance, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Falling In Love, Folklore, Gungnir, Helheimr | Hel (Realm), Norwegian Mythology & Folklore, Possessed Baby, Rebirth, Reincarnation, Sea Monsters, Selkies, Trauma, Valkyries, Widowed, Witch Curses, sorcery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-02 02:20:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21153983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMightyGhost/pseuds/TheMightyGhost
Summary: “Will he come back?”“Of course he will. A little storm could never keep your father from returning to us.” She pressed a kiss to Magni’s brow. “Get some sleep, little one. All will be well, I promise you.”She hated lying to her son.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this idea's been floating around my head for a while. I haven't proofread so there's bound to be mistakes somewhere.

In the early hours of the morning in the sleepy fishing village of Asgard, Thor Odinson’s young bride Sigrid woke up to the sound of a storm raging outside the window.

Her husband was out there. He was out there fishing, making a living, for her and for their little boy Magni. Her husband was out there in the storm, facing the elements head on, exposed and vulnerable. And there was nothing she could do to bring him back, all she could do was watch and wait for his return.

Although she had never loved him the way many wives were supposed to love their husbands, Sigrid cared for Thor deeply, and didn’t wish death upon him. Especially because she didn’t want Magni to lose his father. She was grateful that, despite this being an arranged marriage brokered by her father and Thor’s father, she had a son whom she absolutely adored, and a husband who treated her kindly. And that, surely, was enough.

Unless of course he perished in the storm.

Her bedroom door creaked open as her little boy crept inside, quietly sniffling. “Mumma…” 

“Magni, what’s the matter?” Sigrid helped him climb onto the bed, tucking him in next to her. “Did the storm wake you up?”

“Yeah.” Magni sucked on his thumb, resting his little head against her bosom. “Papa’s out there.”

“I know, sweetness.”

“Will he come back?”

“Of course he will. A little storm could never keep your father from returning to us.” She pressed a kiss to Magni’s brow. “Get some sleep, little one. All will be well, I promise you.”

She hated lying to her son. 

Three days came and went.

The storm had passed them by, leaving Sigrid feeling more and more hopeless the longer time went on without any sign of her husband. 

A week.

Two weeks.

Almost a month had come and gone by the time Odin of all people came to her cottage and quietly told her that she should stop hoping for his return. He was gone. Life had to carry on. 

That evening, while Magni was being looked after by his grandmother Frigga, Sigrid took a walk along the pebbled beach near the village, mulling over everything. She had naively tried to hold onto hope for the sake of her child, but she should have been honest with him from the beginning. Thor was gone. His Papa was gone. Her husband was gone. He was gone. And he was never coming back.

She shed a few tears, mostly on behalf of her son, but her chest did ache with the loss of her husband. He had been good to her, kind and supportive and warm and tender. She had loved him, just not enough maybe. 

She saw something then, something peculiar further up the beach. The body of a naked man, who was cold and wet and shivering profusely. She broke into a sprint, hastily removing her coat as she ran across the pebbles, skidding to a halt before him.

“Are you alright?” she cried out, wrapping her coat around him and pulling him up into a seated position, holding him close to her to try and help warm him up. “What are you doing out here? You could have died!”

“I…” His teeth were chattering far too much for him to speak properly. Sigrid pressed his wet torso against her chest, rubbing her hands over him to try and get the blood pumping, her coat doing its best to help warm him up as well. 

“Come on, you need to get inside. Can you walk?”

He nodded, but when she helped him up he took one step and almost fell flat on his face. Sigrid supported him to the best of her ability, but he was a tall, surprisingly heavy man, although he looked lithe and lean, he was made of firm muscle covered in various scratches and bruises and scars. 

Fortunately, the cottage wasn’t too far away. Once she had all but dragged him inside, she led him into the front room and grabbed a few towels and blankets before putting the kettle on the stove to heat up some water, and then rushing upstairs to pilfer the wardrobe for some of her husband’s winter clothes.

When she returned downstairs with an armful of clothes, the cold stranger had managed to dry himself off, and was in the process of drying his long dark hair when she entered the room. She blushed, letting out a squeak when she caught a glimpse of his private parts. At least he had the decency to blush as well, hiding himself with the towel as he smiled rather sheepishly.

“My apologies… ah, thank you.” He took the clothes from her gratefully. “Do these belong to your… husband?”

“Yes, but… he won’t be needing them back anytime soon.” She gave a tight smile before scurrying off into the kitchen to finish making some tea. 

Upon her return, the stranger was thankfully dressed up in Thor’s rather loose-fitting clothes, looking far more warm than he had done outside. She handed him a cup of tea and sat down opposite him with her own cup, eyeing him curiously.

“Why were you naked on the beach? Were you shipwrecked?”

“Something to that effect.” He sipped on his hot tea and made a noise of delight. “This is marvelous, thank you, uh…”

“Sigrid. And you are?”

“Loki.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Loki. Where do you originally hail from?”

“Ah… a town called Utgard. Where exactly are we?” 

“Asgard.” She set her cup down on the table set between them. “So you’re quite a ways away from Utgard, I’m afraid.”

“Damn.” He set his own cup down. “I hope you don’t mind me imposing, but would it be possible for me to stay here for a couple of days? Just until I get my strength back?”

“I don’t see why not. But I must warn you-” She was cut off by the sound of the front door opening, followed by the sound of frantic footsteps. 

“Mumma!” Magni burst into the front room, Frigga hot on his heels. “Mu-” He stopped, staring at Loki suspiciously. “Who are you?”

“I’m Loki.” He extended his hand towards Magni, who stared at it, then stared at his mother, and then stared at the hand again before shaking it. “Your mother found me on the beach. I’ve been involved in a shipwreck, you see, and she saved my life.”

Magni’s eyes lit up.

“My mumma’s a healer! She helps Amma Frigga deliver babies!” He ran towards Sigrid and climbed into her lap. “Mumma, can we keep him?”

“He’s not a dog, Magni.” Sigrid laughed. 

“Oh, I don’t know, some people call me a dog…” Loki winked at Magni, who laughed loudly when Loki started barking like a dog. 

Sigrid couldn’t fail to notice the suspicious look on Frigga’s face. She decided, however, to ignore her own suspicions in favour of enjoying the sound of her son laughing after a month full of misery.

* * *

Two months had come and gone since Sigrid had rescued Loki. Two months in which Loki had established himself in the village as something of a craftsman, carving ornaments for the wives and children, telling tales to the men, regaling gatherings with tall tales of giants in the north. He started working on carpentry work, repairing buildings damaged in the storms, fixing fences, tending to the needs of the elderly. He was a godsend.

And, because it was convenient, and because he was paying rent, Loki had moved into the small guest room in the cottage. The original intent of the guest room had been to eventually house a potential future child, but since her husband was gone, there was little use for it now. Until Loki came along, of course.

Sigrid liked him being around. It made the cottage seem less lonely, especially when Magni stayed over at his grandparents house. They would converse long into the night, drinking tea or occasionally a bottle of booze he had been given by one of the wives he had helped out that day. He would often make dinner, too, and help out with the laundry and other monotonous household chores. 

Two months had come and gone since Sigrid had rescued Loki. And with every passing day, she found herself falling more and more in love with him. 

“You need to be careful.”

Sigrid sighed. “Frigga, I’m a grown woman, I know what I’m doing.”

“You’re a grieving widow with a young son, Loki is taking advantage of that, he is manipulating you!” 

Sigrid set down the knife she’d been using to cut up the root vegetables meant for a stew. “Frigga, I appreciate your concern, but my husband has been dead for nearly five months, I cannot while away the rest of my years in mourning. In fact, we…” She hesitated. “We will be marrying in the coming month.”

Frigga fell silent. 

“Does Magni approve?”

“Loki asked for his blessing before he asked me.”

“How… sweet.” Frigga stiffly stepped away from the kitchen counter. “Excuse me.”

As soon as Frigga had left the kitchen, Loki entered, wrapping his arms around Sigrid from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. “She didn’t take the news well.”

“No…” Sigrid sighed, leaning into him, appreciating his warmth. “I didn’t expect her to, honestly. But she needs to know that… I cannot be stuck in limbo. I love you.” She tilted her head around so she could steal a kiss. “And Magni loves you.”

“And I love you both.” Loki kissed her sweetly on the lips before hastily separating from her when Frigga returned. “This smells wonderful, Frigga,” Loki complimented, but they all knew his silvertongue never worked on charming the older woman. “Is there anything I can do to assist?”

“No. Just keep Odin occupied. He’s worse than Magni sometimes.”

Loki smiled, stealing a quick kiss from Sigrid before leaving the room. The two women resumed preparing the stew in a rather tense silence, neither one of them willing to break it. 

She was feeling rather melancholy, a few days after marrying Loki. She sat on the sill of her bedroom window, gazing out towards the sea. She was happy with Loki, truly she was. But she couldn’t help but miss Thor. She missed his laughter, the twinkle in his eyes, the way his beard felt whenever he kissed her, his large calloused hands, his warmth, his radiance. She felt guilty. Guilty for moving on so quickly. But she loved Loki, and Magni needed a father figure in his life, he needed stability. She needed stability. 

Something caught her eye, something sticking up in the pile of Loki’s clothes he hadn’t yet sorted through. She reached down and grabbed the object, frowning when she realised it was a compass. She opened it up.

She recognised the compass. It was one she had gifted Thor after the birth of their son, with a photograph of herself and the newborn Magni. It was dented and distorted in places, the chain wearing thin in a few places, but it was most definitely the compass of her late husband.

Why did Loki have it?

Thor always took his compass with him when he went out to sea. How had Loki come upon it? Had Thor left it with Magni, perhaps? No, that didn’t make sense. 

Loki entered the room at that point, saying something to her, but she didn’t hear him. “Darling?”

“Why do you have Thor’s compass?”

“Pardon?”

She held up the compass, looking at him questioningly. “Why do you have his compass? It should have been lost with him. Why is it here?”

“I found it on the beach.”

He was lying. She could tell. Why was he lying?

“When?”

“A few weeks ago, maybe, I’m not quite… I was going to get it repaired and give it to Magni as an heirloom from his father.” He was wringing his hands together. He was nervous. And he was still lying.

She blinked rapidly, turning back to face the window. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Life sometimes doesn’t make sense.” He approached her slowly, and then before she knew it, his hands were on her shoulders, and she was being turned around, and he was kissing her, and she forgot all about the compass in favour of kissing her husband, her Loki, the man she loved more than anything, him and his hands tugging at her clothes, his body pressing hers down onto the bed, making her feel loved and worshipped and utterly devoted to him and only him. 

She decided it didn’t matter if he was lying or not, it was a silly compass, nothing more, nothing less. 

* * *

It had been almost a year since the loss of her first husband. And Sigrid, four or so months pregnant, decided to take a few hours out of her day to sit by the beach and watch the waves and think about Thor. 

There were seals poking their heads out of the water close by, making her smile in delight. They seemed to be having fun. She wondered what it would be like to be a seal and live in the sea and not have to worry about anything except for the orcas and the occasional poacher. 

Magni joined her on the beach after a while, clutching the compass Loki had repaired for him. “Mumma,” he said. “Look at the seals!”

“I know, they’re funny, aren’t they?” Sigrid wrapped her arm around her little boy and held him close, smiling softly. “Are you happy, baby? Are you happy with Loki?”

“Yeah.” Magni sat down next to her, resting his head against her bump. “I miss Papa, but I like having Loki as my new Papa.”

Sigrid kissed the top of his blond head. “I’m glad.”

The seals soon disappeared, a few minutes before Loki arrived. “You missed the seals!” Magni said, laughing when Loki picked him up and spun him around.

“I’m sure we’ll see them another day,” Loki lamented. When he sat down next to Sigrid, she noticed that his hair was slightly damp, and he smelled a little bit of the sea.

“Have you been out swimming in the sea?” she teased. 

He blinked at her, and for a second, his eyes seemed strangely… black. 

And then, as though nothing had happened, his eyes were their usual shade of sea green. “You’re more than welcome to join me for a swim,” he teased in return, not quite answering her question. She didn’t mind. After all, they all had their individual quirks.

Her second son was born in the middle of a storm, entering the world screaming at the top of his lungs. Frigga, who was acting as her midwife, bundled him up in a warm blanket before giving out a cry of shock.

“What? What is it?” Sigrid asked, panicking. 

“Look…” Frigga exchanged a fearful look with the two attending nurses, who both gasped in horror. 

“What’s going on…” Sigrid was handed the baby, and she realised why they had gasped when she saw the baby for the first time. His hands and feet were webbed. “What… why is he… I don’t…”

“I told you not to trust him!” Frigga shrieked. “He’s a monster, Sigrid. Look what he’s done to you! Your child is a… is a…”

“Is a what?” Sigrid demanded, clutching her baby close to her chest. “A monster? An abomination? How dare you say that about my child!”

“Mumma?”

Magni had arrived, with a nervous looking Loki in tow. The two nurses were staring at Loki looking absolutely petrified, while Frigga was seething, glaring at him hatefully. 

“Mumma, is the baby okay?”

“Yes, Magni. He’s… more than okay. He’s perfect.” She spat the last word out in Frigga’s direction, making the older woman recoil as though struck. “Magni, go outside with your grandmother for a moment, I have to speak to Loki alone.”

“Oh… okay…” He took his grandmother’s hand, and Frigga reluctantly left the room, followed by the two trembling nurses. As soon as the door was shut, Loki hurried over, cooing at the baby in absolute delight, picking him up and kissing his tiny little face.

“Why are his hands and feet like that?” Sigrid asked quietly, trying and failing to hold back her tears. 

Loki frowned at her. “Is there something wrong with his hands and feet? They look perfectly normal to me.”

Sigrid looked at her baby and frowned. “What the… but…” His hands and feet looked perfectly normal. “They looked webbed…”

“A trick of the light, no doubt.” Loki kissed his son’s chubby cheeks before passing him back to Sigrid. “He’s beautiful. I have a name in mind, actually. I was thinking Nari.”

“Nari. I like it.” She urged Loki down so she could kiss him. His lips tasted salty. “Our little Nari.”

* * *

Frigga had to eat humble pie once she realised Nari was a perfectly normal baby, but Sigrid knew she was still suspicious of Loki. Loki, for his part, was the perfect doting father, spoiling both Magni and Nari in equal measures.

Nari was almost five months old when another storm hit, this one almost eerily reminiscent of the one that had claimed Thor. Sigrid, up late breastfeeding the baby, sat on the windowsill watching lightning tearing through the dark night sky, patting Nari’s back once he was done feeding. She rocked him gently in her arms, smiling when she heard rustling coming from the bed.

“Darling?”

“Hm?”

“It’s cold in bed without you.” Loki was pouting, she could hear it in his voice. She giggled softly, letting herself be pulled down onto the bed once she had tucked Nari into the crib they kept in their bedroom, at least until he was old enough to have the guest room to himself. 

“Did you miss me?” she giggled, kissing down his neck and chest when he started making noises of appreciation. 

A bellow of thunder roared above the cottage at that exact moment, waking Nari and causing Magni to run into the room screaming in fright. Loki caught him, holding him close, calming him down as Sigrid retrieved the baby and brought him into bed with the other two, huddling together as lightning lit up the sky just outside the window.

There was a bang from downstairs, as though somebody had kicked the front door in. Sigrid let out a squeak of terror, grateful for Loki holding her close, frightened that something might happen to her babies. 

“SIGRID!”

Time seemed to stop.

She felt Loki go still next to her. Magni was saying something, but she couldn’t hear him. Because that voice… that voice sounded so eerily familiar…

_ “SIGRID!” _

She was frozen in place, staring at the bedroom door as it crashed open to reveal the large, imposing figure of her supposedly dead husband Thor. 

“THIEF!” He bellowed, holding a mighty hammer in his grasp. His words were not aimed at her, but at Loki, who was holding Magni, Sigrid, and Nari closer to him, as though they would keep him safe. “YOU TRAITOROUS LYING WIFE-STEALING FISH!”

“Papa?” Magni whispered. At the sound of his son’s voice, Thor stilled. “Papa, is that you?”

“No, Magni, don’t…” Loki started crying when Magni slipped away from him and ran to Thor. “No…”

Thor, holding the hammer in one hand, his boy supported in his arm by the other, glared at Loki. “Get away from my wife.”

“She’s my wife,” Loki said, steadying his quivering voice to the best of his abilities. 

“No! She’s-” He stopped when he saw the baby in Sigrid’s arms. He took a step back, almost dropping Magni, but fortunately the child was being so clingy he managed to stay attached to his father. “No… no no no… this can’t be happening… you’ve stolen my LIFE!” He roared at Loki. “I should NEVER have trusted you!”

“What’s going on…” Sigrid found herself saying, too shocked to say much else. 

“He’s a filthy liar, Sigrid!” Thor bellowed, and as he roared, the thunder and lightning raged on outside the confines of the cottage. A few sparks of electricity rippled over the surface of the hammer he was wielding. “We thought him to be lost at sea, we took him onboard, I told him all about you and Magni, I even showed him the compass! But he’s a sea witch, Sigrid, he’s a monster! A monster and a thief! He summoned that storm, he dragged me and my crew into the depths of the sea and exiled us from this plane of existence, just so he could have the one thing he never had - a family.”

“This is madness…” Sigrid whispered. “I’ve gone mad.”

“It’s the truth. I swear, on Magni’s life, I swear I speak the truth.” Thor looked at her sincerely. “Come with me, Sigrid. Give him the baby and come with me, you’re safe now, I promise you.”

“Sigrid, please…” Loki begged, grabbing onto her arm as though to ensure she didn’t leave. “Please, I love you! I swear! I love you so much, don’t leave me…”

She gently handed Loki the baby before freeing herself from him, pushing herself out of bed. “No! Please!”

She ran past Thor, she kept running, unable to breathe, unable to think, she charged out through the broken front door and into the middle of the storm, her tears blending with the rain. She kept running and running and running through the darkness of the night, lightning ripping through the sky, thunder deafening her, rain lashing down, wind tearing at her clothes and hair. She kept running and running and running until she was at the beach, the choppy waters splashing about her feet, threatening to drag her in. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think. 

“Sigrid, no!” 

“Sigrid! Sigrid, come back, please!”

She could hear them both calling for her, Thor pleading, Loki desperate. 

“I should have listened to Frigga…” she whispered to herself. “I should have realised…” 

It was as if the sea reached out then, reached out and wrapped itself around her, pulling her down into the icy water, down down down until she didn’t know which way was up. Her vision blurred. Her lungs were screaming. Her strength dissipating…

A seal bumped into her, large dark eyes peering into her soul. There was a loud boom of thunder from far above, and then she found herself being pulled through the water, her arms limply draped over the seal’s oily body. 

Strong arms grabbed her, pulling her out of the water. She saw the seal shifting, changing into the form of her husband. She saw her dead husband trying to keep her awake. She was tired. So tired. So tired and cold. She just wanted to sleep. 

She closed her eyes, fading into blissful darkness…


	2. Chapter 2

Three months had come and gone since Thor’s return. 

Three months of him being back in Asgard, back home with his son Magni. 

Three months of Thor begrudgingly accepting Loki as a permanent fixture of his life.

Three months of silence from Sigrid.

Since that night, since being pulled into the sea, since being rescued by them both, something had changed within her. When she woke up from a long, restless sleep, she didn’t speak. Hours later, she still wasn’t speaking. She didn’t even speak when Magni and Nari climbed onto the bed to be with her. She embraced them and held them close, but she never uttered a single syllable.

Thor had moved in with his parents, slowly coming to terms with the knowledge that his Sigrid was in love with Loki, and that despite his trickery, the wife-stealing bastard truly loved her and her sons. 

Three months of watching his wife being tended to by another man. Three months of watching their little family thrive and prosper together. Three months of wishing he had stayed in that realm he had been banished to. 

* * *

Sigrid remembered waking up to discover that her dead husband had returned. She remembered there had been a storm, and then apparently she had been drowning at one point, but the memories were hazy, interwoven with strange visions of red eyes peering at her through the gloom, of tentacles reaching out towards her, of a strange voice whispering in her ear.

_ Give me your voice and I will give you my power. _

It was a peculiar situation. She didn’t understand how Thor was alive. She was just grateful there appeared to be very little animosity between him and Loki, who had become even more clingy than usual, not that she minded. 

In the early hours of the morning, while Nari and Magni were still sound asleep in their beds, Sigrid woke her husband up and whispered in his ear, “I want another baby.”

Loki gave a soft hum, gazing at her with blackened eyes. “Mmm, is that so?” he purred, his hands already reaching for the nightgown she was wearing. 

“I want a little girl,” she continued, breathless with want and desire as his fingers grazed over her core. “I want you to give me a little girl.”

It was only afterwards when Loki was holding his wife close that he realised something.

She had spoken. 

His baby was growing inside her womb. That traitorous bastard’s baby was growing inside his wife’s womb. He knew they already had a son together, but to see visible proof of it… it was heartbreaking. 

Magni was overjoyed at becoming a big brother again. He adored little Nari, and Thor knew his son would adore his new brother or sister just as much. His son was kind and accepting, full of love for his family. Thor was so proud of him.

In contrast, Nari seemed almost… cold. Strange. There was something off about the boy, something he couldn’t quite place his finger on until he found himself rescuing the boy from an irate sheep who had escaped from the field. Once he had picked the boy up, he felt it. 

There was a magical aura about him, hiding who he really was. Thor saw through it. He saw the black eyes and webbed hands and feet, the stench of the sea… The boy’s father had made him as normal as possible, it seemed. But not normal enough.

His mother had mentioned something about Nari when he asked about the boy. When he was born, she had seen for herself his webbed hands and feet, only for them not to be there once Loki had held the boy for the first time. She had her suspicions of course, but she couldn’t prove anything.

Thor wondered if Sigrid’s unborn child would be the same as Nari. He certainly hoped not, for her sake if nothing else.

* * *

Little baby Hel was born in the middle of winter during a snowstorm, her mother screaming at the top of her lungs, in more agony than she’d ever been in. Frigga, once again, acted as her midwife, and had once again found herself being horrified. 

Until Loki came along and comforted the squalling baby, smiling as he complimented her perfect little hands and feet. “A perfect baby!” he declared proudly. 

Frigga was no fool. 

Loki began noticing something… off about Hel. She was a beautiful little baby, of course she was, but there was something… foul lingering around her. Something that reminded him of death.

She was an adorable thing, with dark curls and blue eyes and her mother’s smile, but every now and again, her eyes would flash crimson.

It was coming up to her first birthday when Loki started experiencing strange premonitions. Of tentacles wrapping around a small body. Of burning red eyes peering at him through the gloomy depths of the sea. Of a hideous creature with teeth as sharp as knives and claws that tore effortlessly into the flesh of his kin. Of a twisted, humourless laugh that promised only darkness to come. 

They hosted a small party for Hel’s first birthday. Little Nari sat pride of place next to his little sister, while Magni bustled around alongside his mother helping out, handing out drinks and food, laughing merrily, glad that Thor had decided to attend. Although there was still bad blood between Thor and Loki, at least they could be cordial in front of the children.

Partway through the party, Hel gave an almighty belch, spitting up water. “Oh dear,” Sigrid cooed, wiping her baby’s face clean. She sniffed the cloth she’d used, frowning. “Loki, this smells like sea water…”

“Huh?”

Hel belched again, bringing up more water. And then she started convulsing, twitching on the floor. Sigrid screamed, panicking, while Thor dragged Magni and Nari out of the room, watching from the doorway as Loki grabbed the little girl and tried to get her to calm down. 

A shadowy tentacle appeared from seemingly nowhere and struck Loki, knocking him prone. Seconds later, a shrill shriek tore out of Hel’s throat, followed by a sickening crunch. Sigrid screamed louder. 

“Thor! Thor, help! Help! I don’t know what to do!”

Thor charged into the fray, shoving an unconscious Loki aside uncaringly as he reached for Hel. She was foaming at the mouth, eyes a piercing red, her skin becoming almost scaled in texture. Sigrid was shrieking and sobbing, the boys were crying, so Thor charged out of the cottage, electricity crackling around him as the strange aura radiating from the baby started seeping into his heart.

“What are you?” he growled. “Get out of her, fiend!”

A burst of shadowy tentacles erupted from out of her, cascading around Thor, threatening to swallow him whole. He dropped the baby, thrashing and struggling in the grasp of the shadows. Lightning tore through the sky, impacting the exterior of the shadowy creature forming out of the thrashing baby. It dissipated a few tentacles, but it wasn’t enough. 

He was suffocating, being dragged towards the sea, unable to stop himself from being pulled under, just as he had been all those years ago, when that sea witch had banished him to her hellish realm. 

_ Did you think you could escape me, Odinson? _

That voice… coming from the baby… 

_ The weak and pathetic are so easy to corrupt. Your beloved was so quick to turn her back on you. She willingly gave me her baby. She is mine. Give me the baby and I will free you. _

“You already have her!” he shouted hoarsely. “What madness is this?”

“THOR!”

A burst of energy erupted from an unknown source. Immediately, the tentacles recoiled, freeing Thor long enough for him to run towards the thrashing baby. He held her up towards the shadows, even as more energy emerged from behind him, blasting into each and every tentacle.

“TAKE HER! TAKE HER, YOU FIEND! TAKE THE BABY AND LEAVE MY FAMILY ALONE!”

Something struck the back of his head, knocking him out instantly. Sigrid stood over his body, golden light radiating around her, eyes burning with anger as she picked up her crying baby. “You dare try to take my baby from me?” she whispered. Her eyes focused on the shadowed figure emerging from the sea. “Who are you?”

“You know who I am, Sigrid. We have been sharing dreams for quite some time. You wished to join me all those years ago, remember? I almost had you until those two fools stole you from me.” 

The shadows melded around her, forming a makeshift dress of sorts. Her hair was long and black, her skin ghostly pale, her eyes crimson red, as red as her sneering lips. She was dangerously beautiful. 

“I have helped you so much, Sigrid,” she crooned. “I have released your untapped potential. You have been reborn, you are here with me, my precious Valkyrie.”

“What… what nonsense are you babbling about?” Sigrid clutched her sobbing baby closer, glaring hatefully at the strange woman. “I am no Valkyrie! I am a mother trying to protect her children!”

“You are a Valkyrie. You carry the spirit of the Valkyrie. It is why I want you. I want that power for myself. But, alas, you were too strong for me to ensnare properly. So I decided to take little Hel instead. You named her for me, did you not?”

“I don’t know who you are!”

The strange woman gave a demonic grin. 

“My name is Hela.”

* * *

Frigga had been tending to her garden when Magni came running towards her, dragging a weeping Nari along behind him. 

“Amma! Amma! AMMA!”

“Magni- darling, what’s-”

“There’s a scary witch, she took Mumma, Mumma’s gone!”

Frigga stared at the little blond boy in shock, and then looked at the inconsolable Nari. Despite her misgivings, she pulled the little dark haired boy into her arms, comforting him and kissing his little face, trying to calm him down.

“Stay here with your grandfather,” she said to Magni after a few minutes. “Look after Nari. He needs you to be strong for him.”

“Okay, Amma.” Magni took Nari by the hand and smiled at him. “Come on, Nari, let’s go draw on Afi Odin’s face!”

As soon as they had gone inside, Frigga hitched her dress up and broke into a sprint, fearing the gathering storm clouds and the stench of death in the air. She reached the little cottage by the sea, letting out a choked sob when she saw her son cradling the tiny body of Hel. He had tears in his eyes. The baby seemed unharmed, however. In fact, she looked rosy-cheeked and full of life, smiling at Frigga when she approached them.

“Where is she?”

“The sea witch took her.” Thor held Hel closer. “The sea witch had corrupted the baby… so Sigrid… agreed to give herself up in exchange for Hel being free…”

“Oh…” Frigga fell to her knees, taking Hel into her arms. She was giggling to herself, oblivious to what had transpired. “A sea witch?”

“The one who dragged me to that cursed realm.” Thor stood up on shaking legs, taking a moment to catch his breath. “This is all my fault. I escaped her realm, she wanted revenge. She tried to take Sigrid once before, on the night I returned, but she failed. And now she’s gone for good.” Thor barely held in a sob. “She’s gone, mother. She’s gone, and it’s all my fault.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took inspiration from Critical Role (the sea water being thrown up based on Fjord), Hela based on WOW Helya.


	3. Chapter 3

Helheim was an awful realm. It stank of rotten seaweed and fish. Full of undead sailors and poor unfortunate souls who had either been claimed by the sea witch or dragged into the depths by forces unknown. 

Sigrid established a home for herself in a cave overlooking the entirety of the realm, as high up as possible to avoid the worst of the stench. She felt ethereal, she was ethereal in many regards. She had been ripped from her mortal body, her soul taken to Helheim, the soul of the Valkyrie she had apparently been in a former life. 

The wings would take some getting used to.

She spent her days either fishing or carving crude drawings into the walls of her cavern home. She found herself bored for the most part, a prisoner trapped in this disgusting place with no hope of ever seeing her children again. She thought of Magni and his kindness, she thought of Nari and his cheeky little smile, she thought of Hel, her little girl, her little Hel. She didn’t regret sacrificing herself to save her baby. She would do anything for her children. Anything.

Time seemed to pass by strangely in this undead realm. It seemed as if an eternity had come and gone by the time she caught a glimpse of the sea witch herself.

Hela was a foul being. In her cursed form, she represented a monster with shadowy tentacles and blood red eyes. She mocked her prisoners mercilessly, she frequently tortured them for entertainment. It was all Sigrid could do to keep out of Hela’s line of sight, knowing that the witch wanted, above anything else, the power Sigrid possessed. The power to raise the dead. 

She knew little of the Valkyrie before Hela had taken her. She knew they had guided souls to Valhalla. She hadn’t known they possessed extraordinary power, flying over battlefields resurrecting those who still had so much left to give the mortal world. They were the harbingers of death, but also of life. 

Hela wanted that power. She wanted to free her true form from this cursed realm and claim what she thought was rightfully hers. And Sigrid would be damned before she let Hela threaten her children again. Or anyone else, for that matter. Perhaps this was her destiny all along: to be the martyr.

* * *

“Why did you steal my family?”

Thor and Loki had been patrolling the coastline in the vain hope of finding any sign of Sigrid. The children were safe and sound with Frigga and Odin, giving Thor the opportunity to finally confront Loki once and for all.

“I never sought to steal your family.” Loki picked up a pebble and tossed it into the sea, sighing wearily. “I admit, once I saw you being dragged into the depths, I decided I could… try to have your life. I thought you were dead, I never expected you to return.”

“Do you love her?”

“With all my heart.” He smiled to himself, tears glistening in his eyes. “She shed seven tears. Seven tears summoned me to her. I fell in love with her the moment she thought I was at death’s door and brought me into her home. She doesn’t know what I truly am, she doesn’t know that I cast a glamour on her children so she would never suspect anything was amiss.”

“I think she did suspect.” Thor sat down on a boulder, deciding to rest his feet for a few minutes. They had been walking all day, and with the sun about to set, he knew they would be in for a long night walking back to Asgard. 

Loki joined him on the boulder, his hands shaking in his lap. Thor, deciding to show him some sympathy, placed his large hand over Loki’s, offering some comfort. 

“I think, however, that she would love her children regardless of how they looked. She loves those three children more than anything else, us included. She nearly killed me because I risked Hel’s life. She… gave herself to the sea witch to protect her daughter.”

“So she’s gone for good?” Loki whispered, a teardrop falling onto Thor’s hand. 

“No. She’s in Helheim, where I was.”

“But you escaped. How?”

“I had help.” Thor looked towards the horizon, a wistful expression on his face. “I can only hope they find Sigrid before Hela gets her claws into her.”

* * *

“Pssst!”

Sigrid had been fishing with her feet dangling over the edge of the cliff, whistling tunelessly to herself, when she heard a noise coming from behind her. She chose to ignore it.

“Oi! Over here, dumbass!”

Sigrid frowned, glancing over her shoulder. Nobody there. Huh.

“I’m in the bush! Here!”

A pebble struck the back of her head.

“Ow!”

“Shhh! Come here, quick!”

Sigrid struggled to her feet, tossing the fishing rod aside carelessly as she stumbled towards the bush. An arm reached out, wrapping around her legs and pulling her down, down into a hole that had been concealed by the bush, down into a darkened pit and then into a dimly lit cavern of sorts, with lichen illuminating the space. 

“What the…” Sigrid glanced around edgily, making eye contact with a dark skinned woman with braided dark brown hair and the most intense golden eyes she’d ever seen. She had an ethereal glow about her, along with a set of wings that matched the ones on Sigrid’s back. “Who are you?”

“Brunnhilde. Thor told me all about you.” 

Straight to the point. Sigrid immediately liked her.

“You’re a Valkyrie?”

“Yup.” 

“But… if you’re a Valkyrie, why does Hela want me?”

Brunnhilde rolled her eyes. “She doesn’t know I’m here, obviously. I slipped through the cracks, in a manner of speaking. I got your husband out, by the way. You can thank me later.”

“You can get me out too, then?” Sigrid asked, daring to hope. She watched Brunnhilde pacing around the cavern, a dagger in one hand, busy picking dirt from under her fingernails. 

“Well, I can. But I don’t know if I should.” 

“Why? Because I’m not in possession of a cock?”

Brunnhilde snorted. “Funnily enough, that’s not a requirement for me. No, what I mean is, if I let you escape, Hela will know about it, and she will know about me, then. And I don’t want to be indebted to that sea hag any more than you do. So we need to work together.”

“And do what?”

“Survive.”

* * *

“Her name is Brunnhilde, she’s a Valkyrie. She’s somehow managed to remain out of Hela’s radius, it was a great risk her sending me back. I was the only one she could save, and that was because of Magni. She wouldn’t have done so otherwise.”

“How did she do it?” Loki asked.

Thor shrugged. “There are cracks in the realm, but it’s… it’s dangerous. The ‘exit’ is guarded by a monstrous creature called Garm. She managed to subdue him long enough for me to get past him, but it was a great risk. Hela knew someone had helped me escape.”

“Why didn’t she escape with you?”

“The beast was waking, she did intend to come with me, but… she fended off the beast so I could return to my family…”

Loki was silent for a while, thinking it over. “Will she help Sigrid?”

“Oh, I certainly hope so. I think she’ll like Sigrid.”

“Who doesn’t?” Loki said with a slight smile. His smile faltered. “Look, Thor, I never intended any of this. What that sea witch did… I had no idea. I knew something was wrong with Hel, but I didn’t know what it was. I guess I didn’t want to think something was wrong with her.”

“She’s safe, that’s all that matters.” Thor clasped his shoulder. “She looks so much like her mother, doesn’t she?”

“Almost identical…” Loki wiped away a stray tear. “I miss her.”

“I know. I miss her too.”

* * *

“Ever since I was brought here, I remember the night Thor returned.” Sigrid confided, wrapped up warm in a blanket with Brunnhilde, hiding away from the harsh storm brewing outside. According to Brunnhilde, storms in Helheim happened only when Hela was in a particularly foul mood, her rage strong enough to affect both this realm and the mortal realm. “He wielded a hammer, he radiated this energy…”

“Yeah, that’ll be because of Hela’s little experiments.”

“Experiments?”

“Yeah. Not sure what she did, but he ended up gaining the ability to control thunder and lightning. I think she regretted that when he escaped.” Brunnhilde let out a humourless laugh. “Stupid hag.”

“Mm.” Sigrid closed her eyes, resting her head on Brunnhilde’s shoulder. “My husband’s a selkie.”

“Who, Thor?”

“No, the other one. Loki. In hindsight, it was obvious.” She wondered if those seals she had watched with Magni had been Loki and his family. “When Nari was born, his hands and feet were webbed, but when Loki held him, they weren’t. He must have done something to disguise it… but it didn’t matter to me, I didn’t care about the webbed feet.”

“Because he’s your baby.” 

“Yeah.” Sigrid could feel herself start to cry. “I miss them all so much. I miss my babies so much. I just hope they’re safe, I just hope they’re being taken care of. I would never forgive myself if I left them to suffer.”

“They’re tough, like their mum,” Brunnhilde assured her. “They’ll survive.”

They fell into a somewhat peaceful silence, listening to the sea hag’s raging storm, safe at least for the time being. It was some time until Brunnhilde decided to break the silence.

“Hela killed my lover.”

Sigrid remained silent, but turned her head a little to show that she was listening.

“I was part of the group of Valkyries who banished Hela to this realm. Her name was Eir. She was beautiful.” Brunnhilde glanced at Sigrid for a moment. “You remind me of her.”

“In what way?”

“Your soul. She was like you. Fiercely protective. Stubborn. Proud.” Brunnhilde hesitated. “Maybe that’s why I was drawn to your husband. He and I share a connection. You.”

“You believe I am your dead lover?”

“Stranger things have happened, Sigrid.” Brunnhilde wet her lips, the tension thickening between them. Sigrid’s heart was beating rapidly. “We will get out of here. I promise you. I will return you to your children.”

Sigrid let a tear slide down her cheek. “Thank you.”

They fell into silence again. 

* * *

A storm was brewing. 

Perhaps because Thor and Loki had taken to the sea on a small rowboat. Perhaps Hela was furious with them for openly defying her. Perhaps this would allow Sigrid the chance to escape from that wretched hellhole. 

Loki slipped into his seal form and dived down into the depths, gathering information from his family, who were all becoming increasingly worried about the state of affairs. Upon his return to the boat, upon returning to his human form, Loki rather hoarsely said, “Hela’s power is growing. Her influence over this realm is increasing. We need to find a way of dealing with her once and for all.”

“Are you suggesting we go into Helheim and slay the sea witch?”

Loki looked him dead in the eye. “That’s exactly what I’m saying, Thor.”

“This is madness! We’ll be killed!”

“No, we won’t. We’re powerful. You have your hammer and your lightning. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. And we’ll have your Valkyrie friend and we’ll have Sigrid. Four against one.” 

“No, four against all of Hela’s undead minions, not to mention her bloody guard dog!” Thor’s roar was amplified by a rumbling of thunder. “This is pure insanity!”

“Of course it is! But I will not sit by and do nothing while my wife is trapped down there at the mercy of that sea bitch! If you love Sigrid as much as you claim you do, you’ll do this. Not just for her, but for those three children. They need their mother.”

“They’ll end up orphans, Loki! We’ll all be killed!”

“Not if we work together! Not if we’re smart! We can do this, Thor. Trust me.” Loki held his hand out. “We will be victorious.”

“You’re a madman.”

“I’m not denying that.” 

Thor let out a frustrated huff. “Fine. Fine! But if we end up dead, it’ll be your fault!”

“I can live with that.”

They clasped hands. 

“Now, let’s go to Helheim.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Are you proficient with any weapons?”

“Brunnhilde, do I look like I’m proficient with weapons?” Sigrid held her arms out. “Do I look like a fighter?”

Brunnhilde shrugged. “Looks can be deceiving.”

“Well, in this case, looks aren’t deceiving. I’m a young woman who was made to marry Thor, I’m the mother of three young children, I am a healer, I am not a fighter.”

“I beg to differ.” Brunnhilde handed her a shortsword. “Anyone can be a fighter. Just because you’re a mother doesn’t mean you can’t be a fighter. Now, stand with your legs wider apart. I’m going to teach you how to fight like a proper Valkyrie.”

In the days after Hela’s temper tantrum, a new calm seemed to come over the realm. Sigrid worked tirelessly alongside Brunnhilde to hone her technique with the shortsword. They knew something was brewing on the horizon, they just couldn’t quite pinpoint what. 

In the early hours of a seemingly normal day in Helheim, the sky erupted with thunder and lightning. 

* * *

The beast wouldn’t go down!

“Loki! I hope your tricks are going to help kill this thing!” Thor bellowed, recoiling away from a putrid blast of noxious acid the creature spewed towards him. He swung his hammer, clocking the brute in the jaw, but the beast swiftly recovered, bellowing harshly, its beady eyes focused on Thor and Thor alone.

Ice began forming around the beast, encapsulating it in a makeshift tomb of sorts. Thor looked around, shocked to see Loki wielding some sort of… icy magic. However, the ice seemed to have little effect, the brute breaking free of its brief confinement with ease.

“OI! GARM! PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!”

The two men turned, stunned by what they were seeing. Two winged women were charging towards the beast, swords drawn, righteous fury swelling through them. Thor grinned widely at the sight of Brunnhilde, before his breath was taken from him when he saw Sigrid, shining and beautiful and as glorious as ever.

“Oh gods…” he heard Loki whimper. “She’s a goddess…”

“Aye,” Thor said, dragging Loki out of Garm’s vicinity. “She is.”

The four of them easily took down Hela’s guard dog. 

Poking the smoldering remains with the tip of her sword, Sigrid grimaced in displeasure at the stench, before finding herself being pulled around and into a suffocating embrace.

“Oh, Loki…” She let the sword fall to the ground so she could hold him close, brushing her fingers through his hair as he wept on her shoulder. “Oh, my darling… how are the children?”

“Well. They’re well. Hel is so full of life now…” Loki wiped his face, before letting out a harsh sob. “I thought I’d lost you!”

Sigrid teared up. “Shh, shh… you could never lose me.” She guided him into a gentle kiss. “You and I are meant to be, remember?”

“Uh, guys… maybe save the reunion for later. We’ve got Draugr on the horizon!” Brunnhilde’s warning alerted both Sigrid and Loki to the encroaching swarm of undead minions, the stench of the sea and of death plaguing them. “We need to get out of here, guys, c’mon-”

“No!” Thor bellowed. “We need to deal with that sea witch once and for all.”

“What? Are you insane?” Brunnhilde shouted. “We’re outnumbered, Thor. We can’t do this.”

“Yes, we can. Because I will not allow that hag anywhere near my family. If we leave now, she’ll only become more powerful. We need to deal with her. Once and for all.”

“You’re an idiot.” Brunnhilde held her sword up, turning to face the undead swarm encroaching on them. “Luckily, I’m also an idiot. C’mon, let’s do this!”

The four of them all yelled an emboldening war cry before charging into the fray. 

* * *

Frigga was tending to a cut on Nari’s knee when little Hel came tottering into the room, crying her little eyes out. 

“What’s the matter, little one?” Frigga asked her, reaching for her tiny hand.

Hel shook her head, whimpering pitifully.

“She said a bad lady’s going to hurt Mumma and Papa and Loki,” Magni said, stepping into the room behind his sister. He looked grim. 

“Did she have a nightmare…?”

“No. She said she’s still connected to that sea witch. The bad lady’s going to hurt our family.”

Frigga looked at Magni uneasily. “Your sister doesn’t speak that articulately, Magni. How do you know all this?”

Magni shifted uncomfortably. 

“I just know… look, Amma, we need to help Mumma.”

“I wanna help Mumma!” Nari chimed in. Frigga made to answer him, only to flinch a little when she saw his webbed hands and feet.

“Oh… Nari, little dear, are you feeling okay?”

“Mhm!” Nari scratched his nose. Frigga noticed neither Hel nor Magni seemed to care about their brother having webbed hands and feet. In fact, they seemed oddly accustomed to it. Perhaps Loki’s little trickery had only worked on an adult’s perception. 

“Nari, do you wanna help Mumma and my Papa and Loki?” Magni asked his younger brother.

“Yeah!”

“Take my hand.”

“Wait, what are you-” Before Frigga could react, Magni had taken his brother’s hand, his other hand holding his sister’s. And then, in the blink of an eye, the three children vanished into thin air. 

Frigga stood there, horrified. 

Odin walked into the room, frowning a little before sighing wearily. “I’ll go get Gungnir.”

Frigga could only nod. 

* * *

Squelching their way through the corpses of the undead, the four of them finally reached the precipice of Hela’s domain. The raging sea that swirled around the realm crashed against the crumbling cliffs, great massive tentacles wrapped around the broken wreck of a ship, using it as leverage to keep herself in place. Hela was a ginormous entity, leering down at them hatefully. 

“I have humoured you and your pathetic whims long enough.” Her clawed hands reached towards the four of them, water rising around her, the sounds of the undead rising from behind them. “Give me your power, Sigrid, and I may yet spare your life.”

“Why would I want my life to be spared if it came at the cost of my own children?” Sigrid demanded, holding her ground. “I will not give in to you, Hela. Not now, not ever.”

“Fine. Then I will take your friend instead.”

In one fell swoop, Hela had Brunnhilde in her claws. The Valkyrie screamed in outrage, restrained and unable to do anything to fight back. Thor, reacting instantly, swung himself up into the air with his hammer, conjuring lightning which tore through the dark stormy sky and impacted against the hand holding Brunnhilde.

It did nothing.

They watched in horror as Brunnhilde was swallowed whole by the sea hag. 

“Ah…” Power radiated from Hela, her eyes flaring gold briefly before returning to their usual crimson hue. A strange look formed on her monstrous face. “What-?!”

From out of the gloom appeared five figures, three little ones, two larger ones. The older man wielded a golden staff, the woman was clasping daggers. The three children were pummeling the tentacles with pieces of driftwood, offering enough of a distraction to allow Thor, Loki, and Sigrid to converge upon the sea hag. 

Sigrid kicked herself up into the air, finally using the wings she had been given since her entry into Helheim. They unfurled, white tipped with gold, forcing herself towards Hela’s open maw. 

“HELA!” She drew her shortsword. “LOOK AT ME WHEN I KILL YOU!”

“You cannot kill me!” Hela shrieked. 

“MUMMA!” 

Sigrid looked down at her three babies. They were all looking at her in awe. Magni was practically glowing. Nari was giddy with excitement, his little webbed hands and feet bristling with an icy energy that reminded her of Loki. And Hel… Hel was beaming at her with so much love and trust. 

“You tried to take my daughter from me.” Sigrid turned back to the sea hag, allowing renewed strength to wash over her. “You tried to take my family from me. So I am going to kill you, you sea  _ bitch.  _ And I am going to enjoy it.”

She surged forward just as the rest of the group assaulted the hag with their combined power. She plunged the shortsword into one of Hela’s bulging crimson eyes, thick black bile spurting out, coating Sigrid entirely. At the same moment, from inside the hag’s stomach, Brunnhilde slashed her way free, screaming blue bloody murder as she started hacking at the blackened heart of Hela. 

Hela’s death throes echoed across Helheim. The army of the undead crumbled to dust. There was a sudden surge, the waves rising around them all, and then they were all pulled down… down… down… deep into the depths… deep into the darkness of the unknown… Hela’s lifeless body floating away from them… down down down…

And then…

Two shining Valkyrie warriors gathered them up and pulled them to safety, pulling them towards the exit once guarded by Garm. They all fell through, landing in a sodden heap right by the cottage. 

Both Brunnhilde and Sigrid’s wings faded away, the golden ethereal glow that had surrounded them vanishing along with it. And for the first time in far too many years, Brunnhilde was finally free. 

They were all finally free of the corruption of the Sea Bitch. 

  
  



	5. Epilogue

Hel was a beautiful little three year old girl, playing with her older brother Nari, who was only around a year older than her. They were busy making a fort in the garden of their new home, a cosy house that overlooked the sea, built on the outskirts of Utgard. 

They had deemed it fitting to move from Asgard, some of the memories too potent for them to handle. Frigga and Odin had accompanied them, unwilling to part themselves from their grandchildren. Brunnhilde, who had lingered for a little while, decided to set out to explore this brand new world, accompanied by one of Thor and Sigrid’s old friends, Sif, who worked as a travelling blacksmith. The two of them had bonded almost immediately. 

Sigrid was sitting on the swing Thor had constructed for the babies, enjoying the sunlight shining down on them. A hand rested against her back, slowing her down. “You look to be in a contemplative mood, darling,” Loki said softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Is something troubling you?”

“Not troubling me, no.” Sigrid sighed, placing her hand over her belly, imagining she could feel what wasn’t yet there. “I was thinking about how I have much to thank Hela for.”

“Thank her for?”

“Yes. Without her, I would never have met you.” 

“I suppose…” Loki crouched down, bringing the swing to a complete stop so he could rest his head against her stomach. “Do you think we’ll have twins this time?”

“One boy, one girl?”

“Or two boys. Or two girls.” 

Sigrid smiled, threading her fingers through his dark hair. “I don’t think Hel would like a sister. I think she likes being the only little girl.”

Loki smiled. “I’m sure she would love them regardless.” He leaned up so he could kiss her softly on the lips. “Have you heard from Thor recently?”

“Mm, yes. He’s found himself involved with a peculiar group of people, apparently they’re in dire need of his leadership skills. He’s happy.” She smiled faintly. “I’m happy for him.”

“He’ll be back soon. Magni’s birthday’s coming up.”

“Yes…” Sigrid looked towards her eldest child, who was playing with one of the dogs owned by his grandfather Odin. He looked almost the spit of his father, all rugged good looks and tousled blond hair. “He’s much happier now.”

“He is.” 

“Do you think everything will be alright?”

Loki glanced up at his wife, who had tears welling in her eyes. He wiped away a fallen tear, smiling lovingly. “Maybe not all the time. But if we stick together… yes, I think everything will be alright.”

That was all she wanted. For everything to be alright. 

And it would be. 

Everything would be alright. 


End file.
